Supporters



Sept. l5, 1959 l. s. DE wosKlN SUPPORTERS Filed 001;. l2, 1956 I IO 'if Il Il Il figli!!! FIGZ.

United States Patent C SUPPORTERS Irvin S. De Woskin, St. Eouis, Mo., assgnor to Belta Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application October 12, 1956, Serial No. 615,"549 7 Claims. (Cl. 12S-291) This invention relates to supporters, and more particularly to supporters for sanitary napkins such as used on a sanitary belt.

Among the several objects of the invention may be noted the provision of a supporter, and more particularly a sanitary napkin supporter, of the type having a clasp made of metal or other hard material, the supporter being constructed in a novel manner to provide a cushion against which the clasp bears to avoid discomfort to the wearer such as may otherwise result from the clasp pressing against the wearer; the provision of a supporter of this class wherein the cushion is an air cushion; and the provision of a supporter having the stated features which is economical to manufacture. Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the constructions hereinafter described, the scope of the invention being indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which one of various possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated,

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a sanitary belt having pendant sanitary napkin supporters of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 1, thicknesses being exaggerated;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. l, thicknesses being exaggerated; and,

Fig. 4 is au enlarged front elevation of a supporter.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several wiews of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, there is indicated at 1 a sanitary belt comprising an elastic band 3 from which depend identical front and back sanitary napkin supporters of this invention, each supporter being designated 5. Each supporter is made from a strip 7 of air-irnpervious sheet material, and more particularly a heatscalable plastic material such as a vinyl resin material. This strip is initially formed with two longitudinal slits 9 extending inward from one end 11 of the strip. The other end of the strip is designated 13. The portion of the strip between the slits constitutes a tongue 15 for attachment of a clasp 17, the latter having a transverse opening or slot 19 at its upper end for reception of the tongue. The clasp is narrower than the strip.

A first end portion 21 of the strip 7 is folded around the upper edge of the band 3 on a transverse top fold line indicated `at 23 and superimposed on an intermediate portion 25 of the strip, with 21 on the outside and 25 "ice on the inside of the band 3. The end portion 2x1 includes the slits 9 and tongue -15. It is considerably shorter than the portion 25. The clasp 17 is applied to the tongue 15 by insertion of the tongue in the slot 19 in the clasp, the clasp being moved to the inner ends of slits 9. Then, a second end portion 27 of the strip is yfolded over on a transverse bottom fold line 29 and superimposed on the intermediate portion 25. End por tion 27 is of such length as to overlap the slit end of the strip ybut terminates at 13 short of the inner ends of the slits 9 to accommodate the clasp 17.

Following the above-described operations, the folded strip is sealed as indicated at 31 along its side edges from the fold 29 (which constitutes the bottom edge of the supporter) substantially up to the band 3. Also, it is sealed along a transverse line as indicated at 33 across the overlap of portions `21 and 27 to form a sealed pocket 25. In the case of the use of heat-scalable plas tic for the strip, the seals at 31 and 33 may be heat seals. In making these seals, air is trapped in the pocket 35 so that it may act as a cushion. The supporter is then stitched vto the band 3 and indicated at 37.

From the above, it will be seen that the clasp 17 hangs down on the outside of the pocket 35, the latter acting -as a cushion `for the clasp to prevent it from pressing against the wearer. The end of the tongue 15 is caught in the heat seal at 33 to prevent the clasp from pulling out.

It will be understood that supporters of this invention may be used othere than on sanitary belts. For eX- ample, they may be used on sanitary panty garments. With suitable clasps, they may be used on other types of apparel.

In View of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A supporter made of air-impervious material having opposed walls joined together at the bottom and the side edges of the supporter `and along a transverse line between the botom and the top of the supporter to form a pocket, said pocket having air trapped therein to act as a cushion, and a clasp secured to the supporter hanging down on the outside of the pocket.

2. A supporter as set forth in claim l where the clasp is secured to the supporter `above the pocket.

3. A supporter comprising a strip of air-impervious material having a portion folded over on a transverse bottom fold and superimposed on another portion of the strip, said portions being sealed together along their side edges and on a transverse line spaced from the bottom fold to form a sealed pocket, said pocket having air trapped therein to `act as a cushion, and a clasp hanging down on the outside of the pocket.

4. A supporter yas set forth in claim 3 wherein the clasp is secured to the strip above said transverse line.

5. A supporter comprising a strip of air impervious material having a end rportion folded over on a transverse top yfold and superimposed on an intermediate portion of the strip, and a second end portion folded over on a transverse bottom fold and superimposed on said intermediate portion `and loverlapping the first end portion, said portions being sealed together along their side edges and on a transverse line across the overlap to form a sealed pocket, said pocket having air trapped therein to act as a cushion, and a clasp secured to the strip above said transverse line and hanging down on the outside of the pocket.

6. A supporter as set forth in claim 5 wherein the clasp has an opening at its upper end receiving said first end portion of .the strip.

opening.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,312,222 Wahlstrom Aug. 5, 1919 1,782,152 Statter Nov. 18, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS 353,790 France July 7, 1905 

